A Place to Crash
by llefay
Summary: DallyJohnny just cuddling Dally's sick and being quite a bit more vulnerable than usual.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: In case you can't tell, I don't own The Outsiders or any of the characters associated with it.

A Place to Crash

Chapter 1

It was getting dark out and chilly. The idea of going home didn't appeal to Johnny, but it was too cold to sleep in the lot. He let himself into the Curtis's house, quietly. Hoping he wouldn't wake anyone up. He opted not to turn on the lights as he made his way to the couch from memory.

"Who is it?" a voice mumbled.

Johnny jumped slightly. He hadn't expected anyone else to be there. He squinted and made out a figure with white blonde hair curled up on the couch.

"Hey Dally. Where you been? Haven't seen you around the past few days." Johnny hoped is voice didn't betray how much he'd missed not seeing Dally around.

"Been lyin' low, kid, I…" Dally stopped as his words dissolved into a coughing fit.

Johnny knelt down awkwardly next to the couch. "You okay?"

Dally drew in a shaky breath. "Yeah, yeah. You come by lookin for a place to crash too?"

"Yeah, but the lot ain't that cold, I can stay there."

"Don't be stupid. It's freezing out." Dally pulled himself into a seated position and motioned for Johnny to sit next to him. "I wasn't sleepin anyhow."

Johnny sat down nervously. He liked having alone time with Dally.

"So whatcha been up to Johnnycakes?"

"Not much. School. My dad was drinking last night and when I got up this morning he was still at it, so I figured maybe it would be better to steer clear for a while."

"I dig." Dally pulled off the leather jacket he'd been wearing. "Hot in here, ain't it?"

Johnny shrugged.

"Did you want to sleep kid?" Dally asked, suddenly realizing that he might be keeping Johnny up.

"Naw, I'm okay."

"Turn on the lights then would ya?"

Johnny obediently did so. He sat back down and was able to get a better look at Dally. He looked like he hadn't shaved or brushed his hair in a week. But that was normal. His naturally pale skin was even lighter than usual though, and seemed to have an almost bluish tint. His cheeks were flushed though. Dally was sitting leaning against the arm of the couch with his feet drawn up to his chest. He noticed Johnny staring. "I look that bad kid?"

Johnny shook his head mutely.

Dally laughed harshly. "Yeah I do, s'okay." He looked exhausted and rested his chin on his knees.

"You're okay though?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah, yeah. A cold or somethin."

Dally shivered and put his jacket back on, annoyed. Johnny timidly reached his hand out and brushed it against Dally's forehead.

"You're real warm."

Dally shrugged. "Who you think you are? My mom? She didn't use her hand though. She used to kiss my forehead, see if I had a fever. Don't think I'd let you get away with that one though."

Johnny blushed a little. "You want me to get you an aspirin or something?"

"You know where they keep them?"

Johnny nodded.

"Get me a couple then would ya? And some water."

"Sure thing Dally." Johnny went into the kitchen and grabbed the whole bottle as well as a glass of water. He walked back into the living room and handed them to Dally.

"Thanks kid." Dally grabbed five aspirin and washed them down with the water.

"Can't you sleep?" Johnny asked.

"Weird dreams. You know, from the fever and shit."

"Oh." Johnny knew better than to ask about them if Dally didn't want to elaborate.

"So why'd you get kicked out?" Johnny asked.

Dally laughed. "Said my coughing was keepin him awake. I mean if he don't get a good night sleep how's he gonna be up for drinkin all day, right?"

Johnny nodded. He didn't understand how Dally could not care though.

"You're a good kid." Dally said sleepily, ruffling Johnny's hair.

Johnny grinned. He just wished Dally didn't always think of him as a kid. They were less than a year apart, but Dally didn't see it that way.

"Gonna try and sleep for awhile."

"Okay," Johnny said softly, and killed the lights. He was asleep almost immediately.

Any reviews (positive or negative-as long as they are constructive) are greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

I still don't own The Outsiders (trust me, if I did I'd be bragging about it.) Hope this isn't too too OOC.

A Place to Crash

Chapter 2

When Johnny woke up, he could hear one of the Curtis's in the kitchen making breakfast. Probably Darry, he figured. He realized suddenly that Dally was still there, sound asleep, his head leaning against Johnny's shoulder. Johnny wondered how long he'd been like that. Judging from the fact that his shoulder was asleep, it had probably been awhile. Dally looked so peaceful sleeping there, he didn't want to wake him. Johnny tried to get up without waking Dally. He gently eased Dally's upper body off of him and laid him down on the couch.

Johnny wandered into the kitchen. He'd been right, it was Darry in there.

"Mornin Johnnycakes. Sleep okay?"

Johnny nodded. "Thanks."

Soda came in then. He was wearing only his jeans and was carrying his tee-shirt. "Hey Johnny. So I came downstairs this morning and I think to myself, 'boy howdy, we got ourselves two greasers for the price of one tonight.' I wished I had a camera. Be real good blackmail on old Dally."

Johnny grinned. Before he had a chance to say anything though the front door opened and was then promptly slammed.

Two Bit came into the kitchen grinning. "Ain't that just about the cutest thing out there. Dallas don't look older than about fourteen when he's sleepin."

"You should have seen earlier. Johnny was sleepin there too. The two of them all curled up there." Soda laughed. "What's for breakfast?"

"Eggs, and I think there's some cake in the fridge."

"There better be cake in the fridge," Soda exclaimed rummaging through the refrigerator. He still hadn't put his shirt on.

"Chocolate cake?" Ponyboy asked, walking in. He wasn't surprised to see Two Bit and Johnny there already. "Hey, was that Dally out there on the couch?"

"Yeah, that's me." Dally strolled into the kitchen. "Can't get any sleep around here with the racket y'all are makin."

Ponyboy was tempted to point out that it was their house. But Dally looked like he was in a dangerous mood.

Dally sank into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Lemme guess, you want breakfast too?" Darry asked.

Dally shook his head, then regretted it as he already had a headache. "Naw, got any more aspirin though? I finished off your other bottle."

"That bottle was still half full," Darry complained and he went through their medicine cabinet and produced another bottle of aspirin. "Only take two of them."

Dally shrugged and pulled grabbed four. He swallowed them dry.

"Find some action last night Dal?" Steve asked walking in.

Soda snorted. "Not unless you count Johnny."

Everyone laughed and Johnny blushed. Dally looked confused but annoyed that he was somehow being laughed at.

"Get your shirt on Soda, we'll be late for work." Steve said. "Not that it wouldn't attract customers but…"

Soda grinned and the two of them headed out. "Later y'all." Soda called over his shoulder.

Darry sighed. "I should be getting to work too. And you got school there Pony. You want a ride?"

"Yeah sure."

"Any of you other juvenile delinquents want rides to school?" Darry offered.

Dally smirked. He hadn't been to school in years.

"Not today," Johnny said.

"I called in dead," Two Bit said grinning, obviously thinking he was just about the funniest thing in the world.

Darry shrugged and he and Ponyboy left.

Dally sighed and cringed slightly; breathing heavily was hurting his chest. He put his head down on the table.

"You don't look so good, you know that?" Two Bit commented.

"You never look good. But lookit, you feel like doin me a favor?"

Two Bit shrugged. "Not especially."

"Well do it anyway." Dally commanded. "Go down to the drug store and get me some medicine. Some of them antibiotics or something."

Two Bit considered. It might be an entertaining challenge. "okay. You want to come with Johnnycakes?"

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself," Two Bit said with a shrug and headed out. "You owe me though, Dally."

"Sleep okay Johnnycakes?" Dally asked.

Johnny nodded. "You?" He wondered if Dally remembered falling asleep on him.

"Not bad. No dreams which was a nice change." Dally lapsed into another coughing fit. "Shit." He muttered. "I ain't been sick like this in years. Not since I was a kid."

Johnny didn't say anything. He tried to remember Dally as a kid, how he'd been back when he was eight or nine, before he'd moved up to New York.

"My mom was always there when I was sick. Messing up my hair and shit." Dally grinned ruefully.

Johnny was silent, waiting for Dally to continue, but he didn't. He just lifted his head off the table and propped it up on his arm.

Dally stood up reluctantly and the room spun. He stumbled back into the living room and collapsed onto the couch. Johnny sat on the floor next to it.

Dally shivered, even with his jacket on. He pulled it a little tighter around himself.

Johnny looked on worried. Seeing Dally sick and vulnerable was disturbing.

"Don't look at me like that kid. I ain't dying." Dally said, he couldn't stop shaking though.

Johnny bit his lip. Nervously he moved onto the couch next to Dally and wrapped his arm around him, half expecting Dally to rip his arm off.

Instead Dally actually snuggled in closer to him, grateful for the warmth. "You're damn lucky I'm too out of it to kick your ass." Dally mumbled.

Johnny grinned. He sat very still holding Dally. Afraid that if he moved it would some how break the spell.

What the hell am I doing, Dally wondered to himself. He hadn't meant to let his guard down like that. Everything was just so foggy though, and he was so cold, and Johnny was being so gentle. He hated being sick, it made him miss his mother.

He didn't usually think of her. She'd died six years ago. Plenty of time to heal. If he was going to be honest with himself though, Dally had to admit that even right after she died he hadn't thought about her much. In fact he'd actively avoided thinking about her. Drinking and fighting to distract himself. If she hadn't died though he wouldn't be back here in Tulsa being held by the guy he basically considered a cross between a best friend and a kid brother.

"Hey Dally lookie what I got!" Two Bit exclaimed bursting through the front door. "I…oh" He trailed off in surprise.


	3. Chapter 3

Still don't own The Outsiders.

I think this might be the last chapter. I don't know. Depends how I feel I guess. Oh, and taking antibiotics without seeing a doctor first is BAD.

Dally pushed Johnny away from him roughly. The look he gave Two Bit made it clear that this wasn't something that he needed to discuss. Johnny jumped quickly off the couch.

"Um, right. So I went to the pharmacy. I even got a little not for ya from the pharmacist." Two Bit said quickly changing the subject. He pulled the note out and read it proudly. "Dear Mrs. Winston, I hope you feel better soon. It's so wonderful you have such a caring grandson to look after you and pick up your medicine. If you ever need anything further please don't hesitate to call."

Dally rolled his eyes. "Okay caring grandson, just gimme the drugs."

"My grandma, what a big temper you have," Two Bit said handing over the bag. He was tempted to mention something else that Dally had that was unusual on grandmothers but Dally was already in a bad mood and sometimes Two Bit suspected that the blond didn't really appreciate his jokes.

Dally swallowed the pills dry and stretched back out on the couch. "Don't you got someplace to be Two Bit?"

"Nope."

"Don't you think you might want to find someplace to be?"

"What the hell kind of thanks is this? I made small talk for forty minutes about my poor dying grandmother and this is what I get?"

Dally shut his eyes wishing shutting out Two Bit's voice was as easy.

Johnny stood there not saying anything. He hoped Dally wasn't mad. He ain't got no reason to be, he told himself.

"Fine whatever, I'm gonna head down to the DX see what Soda and Steve are up to. Feel like coming along Johnny? You ain't invited Dally."

Johnny shook his head. "Maybe I'll catch up with you later."

Two Bit shrugged and headed out. "Suit yourself."

Dally cringed as the door slammed shut.

"Did you want me to get going?" Johnny asked.

"Whatever."

"You want something to eat? It's almost noon and you didn't get no breakfast."

"Not now kid."

Johnny sighed. He'd thought for a second that maybe Dally was opening up to him, but he'd been wrong. Dallas Winston didn't open up to anyone. He was tough and hard as nails and the tuffest guy Johnny knew. He was also curled up on the couch looking like death warmed over.

Dally pulled his jacket back off and muttered something about how the Curtis's should get the heating in their house fixed. Johnny was silent.

Dally started coughing again.

Johnny shyly brushed his cool hand against Dally's flushed cheek.

Dally caught Johnny's hand in his own and gave him a little half smile. "I don't know about you sometimes kid."

Johnny settled back down on the couch next to Dally. Dally fooled around with the ring on his finger. It was a nice ring; too nice for Sylvia. He'd known that. Known she was no good, but he'd wanted it to work, wanted desperately for it to work; for the security of a real relationship. It was funny though, even with her he could never really relax and drop his guard.

Dally realized that Johnny was staring at him. "What?"

Johnny blushed and lowered his eyes. "Nothin, just thinkin's all. Dally?"

"Huh?"

"You miss New York?"

Dally blinked, startled. "Why you ask?"

Johnny shrugged. "Maybe someday when I'm done with school I'll move there."

"You don't want to do that. It ain't like here. I mean it's real tuff and all but shit Johnny, you don't want to live there. You don't even have to go lookin for trouble there, it just comes and finds you. I mean half the guys there that I knew are dead now."

"You always made it sound real cool…"

"Well it is, but that doesn't mean you should go and live there."

"I don't want to live here forever."

Dally shrugged. Tulsa and New York were the only places he'd ever lived so he couldn't say much.

"Pony's always yakking on about the country. Maybe I could live there."

"Why you want to leave?"

"Get away from my parents for a while. The Socs. You know."

"We might miss you."

Johnny grinned, "you could come and visit. All y'all" He added quickly.

Dally leaned his head on Johnny's chest. Johnny drew in a quick breath and hugged Dally against him. It was nice. He didn't get much physical affection and he intended to enjoy what he could get.

Johnny touched Dally's hair. It was so blond it was nearly white and soft. Not greasy either, which was nice and a bit unusual for that neighborhood.

"We ain't saying nothin about his." Dally said firmly.

Johnny didn't object. Say nothing about what he almost asked.

"I like you, you know that kid."

Johnny nodded. He what he wanted to say was 'do you like me or do you like like me?' but after about sixth grade things like that just sounded silly.

Dally didn't appear inclined to say anything more though so Johnny just sat there holding Dally against him. He cautiously leaned over and kissed Dally's forehead, knowing he was tempting fate.

"Maybe I was lying. Maybe I'll let you get away with that after all," Dally murmured.

Johnny kept his lips pressed against the older boy's forehead. Dally looked so innocent like that. His hair all messed up and his cheeks pink. Holding Dally that close Johnny could feel him breathing. So fast and shallow. Was it supposed to be like that?

"Dally?"

There was no answer, Dally was already asleep.

So What did you think? Honestly?


	4. Chapter 4

Well I thought I'd just make chapter 3 the end, but what the heck. Thanks for all the reviews. Oh, I hadn't even realized that I had the anonymous review feature disabled. Oops. (I turned it back on.) Thanks for letting me know, hopefully that'll make it more convenient to review, which I hope people will continue to do.

I still don't own The Outsiders or anything related to them. (I own a copy of the book, but I don't think that that counts.)

Warnings: the same as before, slightly slashy (nothing much) and a little angst, a little swearing, nothing too bad.

A Place to Crash

Chapter 4

Johnny leaned in about to kiss Dally.

"Stop."

Johnny pulled back. He knew it. He knew he shouldn't have pushed his luck. It had just seemed like the natural thing to do. They were lying on the couch and he hadn't even known that Dally was awake. Kissing him had just seemed obvious.

"You don't want to get sick." Dally said reasonably. He wasn't sure if that was really why he didn't want to kiss, but it was a good enough reason for now.

"Right, sorry." Johnny relaxed, relieved that it was nothing personal. It wasn't that Dally didn't like him.

"Glory Johnnycakes, if I didn't know better I'd say you were trying to take advantage of me."

Johnny blushed. "No I didn't, I mean I just…"

Dally laughed. It was a surprisingly genuine laugh for him. "What time is it?"

"Um…," Johnny squinted to see the clock sitting on top of the television set. "Like two thirty."

"Ponyboy'll be home soon."

"Right."

"So maybe you should let go of me."

"Oh, sorry, right." Johnny blushed again (it seemed that that was all he did lately) and let go of Dally. He moved over to the opposite end of the couch.

"Think it's too early to take another one of them things?" Dally asked gesturing at the bottle of pills on the floor.

"Probably. Maybe you could take aspirin or something now?"

Dally shrugged and wandered into the kitchen. Why was standing up so difficult? Just staying on his feet was requiring way my concentration than it out to. The room faded in and out of focus.

"Shit," Dally muttered to himself and he sank to his knees. Breathing was so damn difficult. He swore it felt like someone was sitting on his chest; someone big. Dally squeezed his eyes shut, he wasn't ready yet to yell for help. It was just too demeaning. He heard the front door slam and someone walked in.

In a second Soda was standing over him looking genuinely confused. "Dally? Why you sittin on the floor?"

"I ain't sittin, I'm looking for something I dropped."

"Oh, need help?" Soda knelt down next to him and began scanning the floor. "What'd you lose?"

"Nothin, it ain't important."

Soda shrugged. "Okay." He stood up and without giving it much thought extended his arm to help Dally up as well."

If Dally had known what providence was, that's what he would have called it. He let Soda pull him to his feet. The second Dally was on his feet though his knees buckled. Soda grabbed him.

"You wasn't really lookin for something huh?"

Dally shrugged. He walked slowly back to the couch leaning on Soda for support. Johnny had to bit his lip to keep from saying anything.

Once Dally was safely lying back down, Johnny watching him worriedly Soda sprawled out on the living room floor.

"So you two been here all day?"

"Uh-huh," Johnny replied. Dally didn't feel like talking. He was too dizzy even to be embarrassed and that was starting to scare him.

"I got off work early. It was a slow day. Two Bit came by the station earlier. Said Dally practically kicked him out."

Johnny shrugged, wondering what exactly Two Bit had said.

"He said he didn't realize until he was half way out that door that it wasn't Dally's house to kick him out of. He was kinda sore about that."

"Oh."

"I'm gonna go change." Soda said, suddenly remembering that he was still wearing his greasy work shirt.

"Gimme another one of those there would you?" Dally asked gesturing to the antibiotics. Johnny had thought that they'd already established that it was too early to take another one, but he obediently handed the bottle over.

Dally squinted at the instructions on the packaging. One, three times a day. He'd only had one so far so opted to take another one.

"Y'all hungry?" Soda asked, walking back down stairs to the living room.

Johnny nodded.

"No." Dally had really been enjoying the quiet in the house before Soda had come in. He considered asking him to leave but thought better of it considering that it was his house.

"You haven't had nothin to eat all day…" Johnny said barely above a whisper.

"Because I ain't hungry." It took effort to keep from getting annoyed.

Johnny looked down. He was trying not to worry, but Dally was making things difficult.

"Well what do you want?" Soda asked. "We might have some more cake or something, and I can make up sandwiches. You sure you ain't hungry Dal?"

"Yeah."

"That sounds good."

"I'd better make extra, Pony'll be home from track practice pretty soon and Darry'll be in from work."

Johnny had forgotten that Ponyboy had track that afternoon.

Soda bounced off into the kitchen.

"I can take care of myself," Dally hissed once Sodapop was out of earshot.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to…" Johnny averted his eyes. "I'm gonna get going." He hoped Dally would stop him, say how he knew Johnny had only been looking out for his best interests and apologize for being upset.

Instead Dally just shrugged.

Johnny got up and walked hurriedly out the door. Dammit he thought to himself, how could I be so stupid. It had been too easy to forget that it was Dally there. No matter how sick or miserable he was, Dally was still Dally.

Dally groaned. He was going to have to go and apologize. At that moment he didn't even think he could get off the couch though.

Please please let me know what you think. I love feedback.


	5. Chapter 5

But Wait! There's more.

I still don't own The Outsiders.

A Place to Crash

Chapter 5

Johnny made a point of staying away from Dally for a few days. Since he assumed the blond was still crashing at the Curtis's he avoided them as well. The weather had been nice enough that he'd been able to sleep in the lot when things got bad at home.

About a week later, as Johnny was walking home from school, he saw Ponyboy running to catch up with him. He's on the track team for a reason, Johnny thought, impressed.

"You mad at us or something?" Ponyboy asked, when he caught up with Johnny, barely out of breath.

"No." Johnny nervously pulled out a cigarette, offering one to Ponyboy who gratefully accepted. They both lit up

"So why ain't you been around? I mean Dally was in the hospital and you didn't even stop by."

"He was in the hospital?" Johnny gasped.

Ponyboy nodded taking a drag on his cigarette. "He had pneumonia. Darry dragged him down to the hospital."

Johnny starred, wide eyed. Guilt already settling in his stomach.

"He's okay. I mean they released him yesterday. It was just funny you not being around."

"Where's he at now?"

Ponyboy shrugged. "His dad's maybe or Buck's I guess. He ain't at my house, or he wasn't when I left for school, that don't mean much though."

Johnny bit his lip nervously.

"I think he missed you. I mean he was calling for you and all."

"What?"

"Yeah, he had like this crazy fever. 105 something the doctor said and he kept calling for you."

You're not making me feel any better Johnny thought.

"So you guys have a fight?"

"Not really. It's complicated. Look, I gotta get going, but if you see Dally, maybe could you let him I said 'hey?'"

"Yeah, sure."

They said their goodbyes and Ponyboy headed towards home.

Johnny didn't really have to get going anywhere. His parents wouldn't care if he didn't come him. He wandered for a while, just walking, careful though to stay on their turf. He supposed he was hoping that he'd just somehow happen to run into Dally. It wasn't too likely though. He walked over to Slash J on the off chance that Dally might be there. Sure the day after being discharged from the hospital someone should be home recovering, but this was Dally, so Johnny wasn't going to rule out the possibility that he was racing.

Someone's hand came down on Johnny's shoulder. He tensed, his breath catching in his throat.

"Hey kid."

Dally. Johnny relaxed, his breathing resuming.

"Hey Dally."

Dally looked tired and pale, but much better than the last time Johnny had seen him.

"Yeah, see ya later Buck," he said waving to the big cowboy.

"You raced?" Johnny asked, trying to keep his tone neutral.

"Yeah, don't worry, I took it easy, I didn't win or nothin. Made Buck happy since he bet against me that little…" Dally added a few expletives. "Sorry, so anyway how you been kid?"

"Ok, you?"

"Better. I can breath."

"That's good."

"You hungry?"

Johnny shrugged.

"Wantta go over to the Dingo or something? Grab a bite?"

"Ok."

They sat in one of the torn up booths, Johnny struggled to read the graffiti left on the table.

"I gotta tell you kind, the past week is pretty hazy. I know you didn't come around though while I was in the hospital, so if I like cussed you out or something before that and pissed you off I'm sorry, I really don't remember."

Johnny tried to decide whether to be relieved or disappointed by this. "You didn't do nothing. I was just real busy. I'm sorry."

Dally sat there picking dirt out from under his finger nails. "S'okay." He had a vague memory of Johnny hugging him and kissing his forehead. He couldn't be sure it wasn't a dream though and he wasn't about to bring it up. He wasn't sure if he was glad that he hadn't done anything to hurt Johnny like he'd originally feared he had, or if he was hurt that Johnny had just blown him off for no reason.

Johnny sighed, look at it as a second chance, he told himself. He'd been able to hug Dally and even kiss him a little and it wasn't going to destroy their friendship. Look it as a blessing he told himself. No it'll never happen again, but at least there's the memory.

Please review, let me know what you think. I'm trying to decide if it should end here (a little sad) or continue (no clue where it's going.)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I still don't own the Outsiders. Sorry to disappoint you all. (No I don't say y'all in real life, I just make the characters in my fanfics do it.)

Well, I said I thought I was done with this, but I have to agree that the way the last chapter ended was a little disappointing. Kind of a cop out. So okay, here's some more. I still don't know where I'm going with this though. Please read and review.

A Place to Crash

Chapter 6

Dally looked without much interest at the brunette sleeping next to him in the back room at Bucks. The strange thing was, the whole time they'd been making out (they hadn't even done anything more than that,) Dally kept thinking about kissing Johnny. It had just been some strange feverish dream, Dally assured himself. Why did he keep thinking about it though?

He hadn't meant to actually follow the doctor's advice and take things easy, but he had been. First he hadn't won his race, then he hadn't had sex with a hot girl. It just wasn't his day.

Dally knew he wasn't exactly attractive, but girls seemed to like him. Not for a relationship but for a night at least. Sylvia, well he'd that that was real, but obviously it hadn't been all that meaningful to her. Dally played with the ring again. It just reminded him of his failures with girls. Well it also reminded him of that night when he rolled that drunken senior, that had been pretty fun…

Dally pulled his shirt back on and got out of bed, leaving the girl, he didn't even know her name, sleeping there.

He headed home, if you could call it that. It didn't feel much like home to him. It was a place to crash though and it was fairly safe. Dally's father didn't care much about him, but he hadn't laid a hand on him in over a year. He just couldn't be bothered to care anymore. Dally sometimes wished he had siblings, when he saw what the Curtis's had it made him a little jealous. But mostly Dally was glad that his parents hadn't had anymore kids to screw up, besides he had the gang, they were family enough.

Dally wandered into the house. His father was sitting at the kitchen table drinking. Big shock there. Dally didn't even know if his father knew that he'd been in the hospital. Obviously paying the bill was going to be up to Dally. They didn't have insurance and his father certainly wasn't going to do it. He'd better start winning some rodeos.

Dally sighed and laid down on the couch. That was half the reason he didn't mind sleeping at the Curtis's. Either way he was on a couch. At least there it didn't involve listening to his father get shit faced. He was still recovering though and fell asleep almost immediately.

Dally woke up around noon. His father wasn't there. Dally wondered if he'd finally found himself a job. It probably wouldn't last long. He showered and dressed quickly. Dally headed out, not going any where in particular. It was too early in the day for anything interesting to be going on so he walked on over to the DX. Steve was still in school, but Soda was there, not doing much from the looks of things. He was working the register and since most of his fan club still had school, there wasn't much for him to do.

"Hey Dally, how you doing?"

"Not bad. How about you?"

Soda shrugged. "Okay."

Dally was bored.

"If I catch you taking anything…" Soda warned. He wouldn't put it past Dallas.

Dally rolled his eyes. He already had a pack of cigarettes in his pocket. He knew full well Soda wasn't going to do anything about it.

"What time does the high school get out?"

Soda glanced at the clock. "In about half an hour."

Dally nodded. "See ya around." He headed off towards the high school. He knew he looked tough, and the nervous, contemptuous looks he got from passers by reinforced it.

The final bell was just ringing as Dally got to the high school. Glory he thought to himself those kids looked young. Half of them weren't any younger than he was Dally knew, but they looked child like. Dally supposed he was jaded, he preferred to think of it as knowing the score, but yeah, jaded worked too. He knew he was harder than any of the other members of the gang. Physically Darry could probably take him, but it would be a good fight.

Two Bit walked over grinning and waving like a madman. He never could stay angry about anything for long. It was especially difficult since Dally didn't seem to realize that Two Bit should be upset with him.

Johnny came over a minute later.

"Is Ponyboy at practice?" Dally asked.

Johnny nodded. "He won't be out until about 6 tonight."

"Y'all want to get a drink?" Dally asked.

Johnny nodded. Two Bit had skipped most of his classes and spent the majority of his day having lunch blowing straws at passing girls, but he didn't mind getting another drink. They walked over to the shopping center. There was a malt shop attached to the drug store.

The pharmacist saw them the moment they walked it. "Keith! It's so good to see you again. How's your grandmother doing?"

"She died," Two Bit replied without blinking an eye.

The pharmacist babbled on about how sorry he was, and gave them all free cokes to express his condolences.

After he'd left, the three of them sat on stools at the counter. Talking with the pharmacist had reminded Two Bit of something.

"So y'all been doing some bonding lately?"

Johnny blushed and began examining his coke with a great deal of interest. He was hoping that Two Bit would just forget about the whole thing like Dally so conveniently had.

"Huh?" Dally asked.

Two Bit laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

But wait… There's more!

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I don't own The Outsiders. I guess I own that trampy minor character that was making out with Dally in the last chapter. But I don't really like her enough to claim her as mine. If any of you want her you can have her.

A Place to Crash

Chapter 7

"So y'all been doing some bonding lately?" Two Bit asked, grinning.

"Huh?" Dally said, confused and annoyed that Two Bit was obviously making fun of him.

Two Bit laughed. "Don't give me that. You and Johnny was practically making out a week ago."

"He was sick," Johnny objected softly. "And…" he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Get lost Matthews," Dally commanded.

Two Bit walked off laughing. He didn't seriously think that there was something going on between Dally and Johnny, but it sure was funny to harass Dally about it.

"So that wasn't a dream," Dally mussed. "Look, Johnnycakes, um whatever happened, it was just like um…"

"An accident?" Johnny suggested, swiveling on his stool so he was facing Dally.

"Yeah, an accident. And it wasn't like a sexual thing, I mean Soda and Pony hug and whatever 'cause they're brothers. It was like that sorta." Dally was more than willing to try and convince himself of that.

"Yeah, I know," Johnny agreed. "We're friends."

"Exactly. Okay, good. So um you ready to go?"

Johnny nodded, throwing out what was left of his coke and they headed out.

They were both walking silently, lost in their own thoughts.

They got to the corner of Picket and Sutton and were about to go their separate

ways.

"There's a party over at Buck's tonight." Dally said suddenly.

"There's a party there every night."

"Yeah. So I was gonna go over if you and Pony wanna come…"

"Ponyboy can't. It's a school night, and Darry won't let him near Buck's."

"Oh yeah." Dally had already known that. "Well you wanna come?"

"Okay." Johnny grinned, relieved that Dally wasn't freaked out about Two Bit or any of that. Two Bit had definitely made it sound much worse than it was. They hadn't been practically making out. Well maybe but…

"So I'll see ya back here at six or so?"

Yeah, see ya Dally."

Dally watched as Johnny walked away. That had been really stupid. What he should be doing was trying to avoid Johnny until he could figure things out a little, but here he was asking the younger boy to hang out with him more. Dally shook his head and walked home. His father was already there when he got in, waiting for him.

"Sit down boy."

Dally sighed, trying to remember what he'd done wrong lately that his dad might be upset about. He flopped down onto the couch, careful not to sit too near his father.

"Now you see, there comes a point in every man's life where he decides that he needs for freedom, some independence and maybe he meets someone he loves and wants to be with," Mr. Winston began.

Dally stared confused. Was his father actually trying to give advice? Was this some version of the birds and bees speech, obviously it was a bit late, but it was a nice thought.

"And I've reached that point in my life." Mr. Winston said smiling. "I met this girl down at the unemployment office today, and well we hit it off. It would be a bit awkward all three of us living here though, so, your stuff is all packed for you.

"Oh." It wasn't really all that surprising Dally supposed. His father had tolerated him pretty well for the past year or two. (Of course they'd been taking turns going to jail during that time so it wasn't as if they actually had to live together much.)

The door opened then and who should walk in but the brunette from the night before. She already had her arms around Mr. Winston when she saw Dally there. She froze for a minute.

Eww, Dally thought, that was just creepy. "Yeah, I'll go get my stuff." It wasn't like he had that much stuff worth taking, and half of it he was already wearing. He had his cigs, a lighter and a blade already on him, not to mention a shirt and jeans. He grabbed his leather jacket an extra pair of jeans and another white tee-shirt and walked out the door.

He couldn't even manage to be mad about it. It was all so ridiculous. It wasn't like he cared, he reminded himself. It was just going to be inconvenient trying to find a place to stay for a few days. He could sleep at Buck's for a few nights, but he knew that the big cowboy would eventually kick him out. He didn't like imposing on the Curtis's anymore than necessary, but he had a feeling that was where he was going to end up, at least until he could gather up the money for a deposit on an apartment. And he still had that hospital bill to pay off. Shit.

Dally sat down on the curb. He didn't have anywhere to go and it would be another hour until he had to meet up with Johnny. He pulled out his cancer sticks and began smoking. He usually didn't smoke all that much. But he was worried and before he knew it half the pack was gone. Great, now I gotta buy more smokes too, Dally thought. He wished he'd had something other than that coke from earlier in his stomach.

He reluctantly got up, still carrying his change of clothes with him. Johnny was already there when Dally got to Picket and Sutton. He looked at Dally's extra baggage with some surprise. "You moving out?"

Dally shrugged. "My old man kicked me out. For good this time I think. Don't matter. I'll stay with Buck or Darry or something."

He could see the sympathy in Johnny's eyes. "I really don't give a shit kid. Don't look so sorry for me."

They walked over to Buck's in silence.

Dally didn't bother ringing the bell, he just walked in, gesturing for Johnny to follow him. It was early still and not that crowded. Buck saw them immediately and came over.

"Why you got yerself extra clothes there Dallas? You ain't moving in. So don't get no stupid ideas."

"Just for the night Buck, don't worry."

"You ain't never brought extra clothes to spend the night before."

"I don't usually plan on spending the night. It just kinda happens."

""Cause my parties are that damn good!" Buck exclaimed, making sure everyone around them heard that. "Somebody turn on that record player! Yeee-haw!"

Dally wrinkled his nose. "Feel like giving me a few dollars?"

"No. You still ain't paid me back from the last time I loaned you money."

"Don't think of it as a loan. Think of it as a gift."

Buck laughed and handed Dally 20 dollars. "Only because I like you. And don't you come looking for more."

Things were starting to get a bit louder and the crowd was coming in. Buck wandered off to entertain his other guests.

Dally grabbed two beers and sat down in the closest chair. Johnny obediently sat down next to him.

"Want one?" Dally offered, gesturing to the beers.

Johnny shook his head.

Dally shrugged and drank them both.

Johnny wasn't too sure why people thought that parties at Buck's were so great. The music was awful, Buck himself was pretty rude, and the majority of the guests ended up passed out before 2am.

About an hour later, Dally was still drinking. Johnny had lost count of how many bottles he'd had. He noticed Dally starring at a girl. The girl was pretty, beautiful by most standards. She had long dark hair and dark skin. She actually looked like she could be related to the Shepards. A cousin or something maybe.

"Who is she?" Johnny asked. Trying to convince himself that he wasn't jealous.

Dally glared. "The little tramp living with my father. It's nasty man. You know who she was with last night?"

Johnny shook his head. He hadn't known that Dally's father was living with someone.

"Me!" Dally exclaimed.

Johnny stared, impressed. "Wow."

"No shit wow." Dally sighed and cracked open another beer.

The girl was hanging all over Buck. Dally shook his head, disgusted. Sometimes he really really disliked women.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders. I own a car (which is over 10 years old) and a record player. That's about all.

Sorry this part is so short.

A Place to Crash

Chapter 8

"You heading home Johnnycakes?" Dally asked. It was getting late and almost everyone was thoroughly smashed.

"Yeah, I was going to." Johnny was getting sick of this. He hadn't been drinking and watching everyone else get falling down drunk was getting a little old.

"You could just stay here. Buck has extra rooms. It's pretty late." What am I saying? Dally asked himself. He was wishing he hadn't had that last beer.

"He won't mind?"

"Naw." Buck was passed out on a couch with the brunette sprawled on top of him.

Dally walked a little unsteadily into the back area, Johnny followed. Dally tried the doors to the rooms. To his annoyance only one was unlocked.

"We can share," He said, as large red flags went off in his brain.

Johnny didn't object.

The bed wasn't exactly wide. Dally laid down as close to the edge and possible so Johnny could lay next to him without being too close. Johnny turned off the light and laid down. It wasn't like he'd never shared a bed with someone before. He and Ponyboy used to have sleepovers like that all the time when they were little. Then he'd shared a bed with both Pony and Soda.

Dally was asleep before Johnny. Johnny was just about to fall asleep too, when Dally flung his arm over top of him.

I can't do this, Johnny thought. It just wasn't fair to be this close to Dally and sleeping there with him like that when they couldn't do anything. He wished he'd never gone over to the Curtis's that night when Dally was sick. If he hadn't have been able to hold Dally then, then maybe it wouldn't' have been so bad, but now he'd gotten a taste… Johnny shook his head climbed out from under Dally's arm. He lay down on the floor next to the bed. It was still better than the lot or his parent's house he supposed.

It was about five in the morning when Dally awoke with a start. He'd thought now that he was feeling better the dreams would go away. No such luck though. He was starting to sober up, and he didn't like it. He looked around, trying to remember where he was. Oh yeah, the back room at Buck's. He could have sworn that Johnny had been there with him though.

"Johnny?" He asked softly. "Johnny?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sleeping on the floor?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Why?"

"I thought it might be uncomfortable both of us sleeping in the bed like that…"

Dally was silent. He didn't know what he wanted. He despereately wanted Johnny sleeping next to him all cuddled up, but on the other hand things were safe like this. Uncomplicated. Uncomplicated was a good thing as far as Dally was concerned.

"It ain't uncomfortable for me," Dally said.

Johnny bit his lip. Did Dally have the slightest idea how hard this was for him? He climbed back into the bed. He couldn't stand it. Did Dally feel the tension too or was it just him? Johnny put his arm around Dally's shoulders and waited for the reaction. Dally pulled Johnny in closer to him. Johnny stifled a gasp as Dally's lips pressed up against his. They were so soft, Johnny thought. He never would have expected anything about Dally to be soft, but his lips were and so was his hair Johnny realized.

I must still be drunker than I thought, Dally told himself. He liked having an excuse. Dallas Winston didn't just go around kissing other boys. If he was sick that was one thing, or if he was drunk that was okay, but not under normal circumstances. 'Cause if I did it just because I liked it and not because I was drunk or sick well then that would mean I was gay, Dally reasoned.

Dally and Johnny fell back to sleep pressed up against each other.


	9. Chapter 9

Okay this is the final section. It isn't great, but it'll do. And I'm sorry there isn't any graphic sex or anything. But see I can't even imagine the sex scene without blushing, so there is no way I can possibly write it. Sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders. Never have and sadly probably never will.

Dally woke up with a start. Oh shit. He thought. Wishing he could explain it away the fact that he was curled up with Johnny in a room at Buck's. He hadn't been that drunk the night before though, and he remembered it pretty well. Dally considered running. Not that running was really his style, but… Johnny woke up then ruining that idea. He looked nearly as worried as Dally.

"Morning," Dally said, trying to sound calm.

"Hey Dally, um…"

"Yeah… We should probably head out. Otherwise Buck is gonna come back here. If we leave now we probably can even get out of paying for the room." Dally got quickly out of bed, relieved he wasn't too hung over and grabbed his extra stuff. Johnny was making the bed.

"Don't bother." Dally walked out coolly. Praying no one would see him and Johnny walking out of the same room. He was in luck. It was early still and everyone else was apparently still passed out.

"Got any big plans?" Dally asked.

"I should be at school," Johnny said with a shy grin. "But it don't matter if I go or not."

Dally nodded. "I could use some coffee. You want any?"

"Okay."

The walked to the nearest doughnut shop. It was dark and smoky and the food didn't look all that appealing, but it was convenient. And besides there was nothing better than a cigarette over breakfast. Dally lit two in his mouth and handed one over to Johnny.

Dally went up the counter and got two coffees and one doughnut. He gave the doughnut and one of the coffees to Johnny and they sat down at a little booth.

"So what are we going to do now kid?" Dally asked. He was going to have to stop referring to Johnny as "kid" he realized. It was just creepy to call someone you were dating a kid. It kind of made him think of this corny old movie Mrs. Curtis had made him watch with her once. The guy kept saying "here's looking at you kid" to his girlfriend. Dally had found it disturbing. The girl had been a real looker though…

"Dally?" Johnny asked. "Were you listening? What are you thinking about?"

"Some stupid movie. It ain't important. Sorry. What did you say?"

"Nothing."

They sat in silence for a while. Dally sipped absently at his coffee. It wasn't any good, but he wasn't going to be picky. This was one of those morning where he needed caffeine, or beer Beer would be okay too…

Johnny poured large amounts of cream and sugar into his coffee before he attempted drinking it. His doughnut was already gone. Dally wondered, not for the first time, if Johnny's parents fed him.

Dally was still thinking about that movie, and Mrs. Curtis.

"Sometimes I confuse my mom and Ponyboy's mom," he said suddenly.

"Huh?" Johnny asked, confused.

"I mean like in my mind, I'll be thinking about my mom, and then I'll realize that it wasn't really her that did something, it was Mrs. Curtis. I miss her."

"Your mom?" Johnny asked.

"No, well I guess I miss her, but I meant Pony's mom. She was tuff."

"Yeah. Does your mom still live in New York?"

Dally laughed bitterly. "She died. Long time ago."

Johnny looked up from his coffee, surprised. "I'm sorry. You never said anything."

"S'okay. It was a long time ago. That's why I moved back here. You know. I moved there with her when my parents split up, and then when she died I moved back here."

Johnny tried to remember if he'd ever heard that before. He was sure that he hadn't though. Dally had just shown up again one day with no explanation to why he was back. Dally was just full of surprises.

"Anyway. I guess I'll have to stop by and talk to Darry. See if he'll let me crash on their couch for like the duration."

"I'd say you could stay with me, but you know…"

Dally nodded. "Yeah, I know Johnnycakes. Thanks though."

Dally looked around carefully. When he was sure no one was looking, he reached across the table and put his hand over top of Johnny's.

Johnny grinned. He'd never quite known what to do with girls. With Dally everything just worked though, it just made sense.

"Dally? Are we like, you know…together?" Johnny felt stupid asking it, but he wanted to be sure.

"Do you want to be?"

"Well I don't really kiss people that I'm not with usually…" Johnny didn't mention that he didn't usually kiss people in general.

"Okay then."

"Okay then."

That night they both slept on the Curtis's couch. It was too cold to sleep in the lot was Johnny's excuse. No one questioned it.

Dally lay on his back on the couch, with Johnny lying on top of him. Johnny was light enough that it was pretty comfortable.

Johnny pressed his lips gently against Dally's and felt Dally's tongue slide into his mouth. Johnny gasped a little involuntarily as Dally arched his hips up and slowly circled his tongue around Johnny's mouth, caressing the younger boy's tongue with it. Dally had his eyes closed and he could feel Johnny touching his cheek and his hair and all over his face.

Johnny broke off the kiss and put his head down on Dally's chest. It was going to be a good night.

THE END! (I mean it this time.)


End file.
